SNOHOMISH — The Glacier Peak boys basketball team ran past Redmond at home in the winner-to-state Class 4A bi-district 1/2 semifinal game, 74-47, on Tuesday night.
The victory not only extends the Grizzlies’ win streak to 10, but it also slots Glacier Peak (22-1) into the bi-district finals against two-time defending champion Mount Si at 7 p.m. Friday at North Creek High School. Mount Si has reached the past three bi-district title games, including when the Grizzlies won it in 2020.
Glacier Peak wings senior Isaiah Cuellar and junior Josiah Lee dominated the court with 22 and 21 points, respectively, and sophomore guard Reed Nagel added 11.
“It’s a good team win,” Cuellar said. “Everybody contributed. I tried to get my teammates involved, and (when the opening was there), we scored.”
Cuellar immediately set the pace of the game scoring the team’s first eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers. The game was balanced in the first half with both teams trading baskets, and Glacier Peak led 33-23 at halftime.
“They are honestly the best shooting team we played this season,” Glacier Peak head coach Brian Hunter said of Redmond. “We knew we had to do some things, which was contain shooters. We felt really good about our defense in the first half. We gave up (23) points, and we pride ourselves on that.”
The Grizzlies turned it up a notch in the second half and outpaced the Mustangs 41-24. Missed shots, particularly in the paint, along with careless turnovers, stinted Redmond’s scoring opportunities throughout the night.
“We did not shoot (the ball) well early, and we kind of started forcing things that aren’t our normal shots,” Redmond head coach Todd Rubin said. “Playing a good team always makes you better … so we’ll prepare for the next game.”
Redmond trailed the entire game, and Glacier Peak kept Mustang players frustrated with its performance on both sides of the ball. Redmond senior forward/wing Kyle Paddleford led the team with 15 points, but was called for a technical at the end of the third quarter. Lee went to the line and gave Glacier Peak a 53-34 lead entering the fourth quarter, the largest spread of the night.
Hunter prided his starting lineup’s performance, which consisted of only one senior, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman.
“It’s a really young team,” Hunter said. “We really learned that our five guys are much better than one guy when it comes to how we attack on the offensive end. … That’s how we’re going to win is five guys. … We talked about attacking the basket, taking the right shots, forcing (Redmond) to do some things that they don’t want to do and limiting their 3’s, which was really big.”
Up next for Glacier Peak is battle-tested Mount Si, and Hunter’s plan is to play Grizzlies ball.
“We’re going to do a lot of the same things we’ve been doing: try to do what we do well and limit what they really do well,” he said. “They are an unbelievably talented team. They have three of the best athletes you’re going to see in state. … We’re going to try to put them into difficult situations and put ourselves in the best situations we possibly can.”
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